Defining your Ethnic Hair Type

Human hair - which grows everywhere on the body except the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, eyelids and lips - can differ markedly in texture and colour. Yet all human hair has similar functions. Scalp and body hair is believed to keep us warm by preserving heat. It cushions our heads, giving some protection against injury. The hair inside our nose and ears and around our eyes protects against dust and germs, while eyebrows and eyelashes protect our eyes against sweat, harsh light and tiny particles. Armpit hair helps to reduce friction.

Unlike other mammals, humans do not moult, because our hair follicles are all at different stages of the growth cycle at any given time. (If they had all been synchronized, everybody would have gone bald from time to time.)

Nevertheless, we do shed our hair at a rate of 50 to 80 scalp hairs a day (the figure of 100 hairs a day, often quoted as the average daily hair loss, is now believed to be exaggerated). As we'll see later, factors like changing hormone levels, diet and medication can influence the hair-loss rate quite drastically.

Your hair type if determined by your genetic make-up. You can change your look, but not your hair's inherit characteristics.